Counting-machine.



A. M. HULL.

COUNTING MACHINE- APPLICATION FILED APR.'I, 1909.

Patented July 19, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WI'fNEssE s 3/ mw1 Mews/z M. HULL. COUNTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR-7, 1909.

964,782, Patented July 19, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

5 I W my I N W -minu- "VI'INESSES INVENTOR A. M. HULL. COUNTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AP E. 7, 1909.

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A. M. HULL. oormmm momma.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 7, 1909. I 964L782 Patented'July 19,1910.

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ALVA m. ULL. or nnrnorr, MICHIGAN.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVA M. HULL, a citizen of the United States and a resident of Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michi an, have invented a new and Imroved ounting-Machine, of which. the ollowing is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to mechanism for conveying from a hopper or other rece tacle a predetermined number of small 0 jects, such as tablets, pills, or other balls,

capsules or screws and depositing them in a box, bottle, can or other container, by means of a disk having perforations to hold the number of such articles desired; and the object of my improvement is to provide a machine of this kind in which the erforations in the disks will all be proper y filled, in which the container will be -pro erly positioned to receive the article, an in which covers may be slipped onto the containers when telescoping boxes are employed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of the machine, portions of the conveying disks being broken away to show the chutes underneath and the receiving hoppers being removed from abovethe disk in the lower half of the figure. Fig. 2 is a plan of a conveyin disk and Fig. 2 a vertical cross section of t e same on the-line 2-2 of Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is a plan and Fig. 3 is a cross section of the same on the line 3-3 of Fig. 3. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross section on the line 44 of Fig. 7 Fig. 5. is a plan of the box and cover conveying mechanism. Fi' 6 is a detail on a larger scale of the revolv n brushes. Fig. 7 is a front view and centre vertical section of the machine. Fig. 8 is a rear View of the container conveyors on a l'ar. er scale.. Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are details of t e same.- Fig. 12 is a front view of the same. Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views. I In the machine illustrated, selectingand conveying devices in duplicate are shown as it has been found that two machine operators can attend to bothas easily as to one.

Referring to'Fig. -7, 5 is a base having standards 2 mounted thereon, the mechanism in each being practically the same as in the other.

Mounted in bearings 6 is a shaft 7 having tight and loose pulleys 8 and 9 on its. outer end. A bevel pinion 11 on the shaft 7 meshes with the: gear 10 on the shaft 12, freely revolublein the central line of the of openin s22 as desired.

' Specification 0! Letters Patent. lamented July 19, 1910. Application filed April 7 1909. Serial H0. 488,506.

standard. At its u per end, the standard is broadened into a. i ange 13 to which is secured a circular bottom 14. (Fig. 3). This bottom has secured to ita cylindrical rim 16 which carries inwardlypro'ecting cross bars 17. Onthe inner ends 0 these cross bars is mounted a second rim 15, held spaced abovethe bottom 14. The bottom and outer rim v16 form a case to receive the counting device and articles to be counted.

The shaft 12 carries the two collars 20 (Fig. 6) between which is held the perforated disk 21, (Fig. 2) havin r as manysets Ihe shape of these openings will depend upon the articles to be boxed, the disks shown in the drawin s bein especiall adapted for capsules. T 10 num er .of per orations in each set being the predetermined number to be placed in each container. blank and perforated s aces in each disk of equal area, ample time is given for the operations of the container conveyors. Immediately over the collars 20 is secured a spur gear 24, held in place by the nut 25. Above the nut the shaft 12 serves as a fulcrum of the two armed brush carrier 26.

Secured to In $27 on the bottom 14 are the guides 28 or the outer bearings 29 of the shafts 30 of the revoluble brushes 31. ()n the inner ends of these shafts are bevel pinions 37, while the bearings for these inner ends are supplied by the brackets 33 se cured to the inner rim 15 b justable b the screws 35. Adjustment of these brus es is desirable, for the brushes should be sufiiciently near the disk 21 to throw back all articles lying on the disk but suiiiciently far away to allow articles'in the erforations to remain there undisturbed.

he bevel gea'rs 37 mesh with bevel gears 32 on the vertical shafts 38 mounted in bearings 39 also carried by the brackets 33. Onthelowcr ends of these shafts are the spur pinions 40 which mesh with the spur gear 24 on the vertical shaft 12. A similar It has been found that with the the screws 34. (Fig. 6). Outer-and imier earings are adbracket 33 carries a similar shaft 38 hav- Two hoppers are mount- 1 ed above each disk 21 and each is formed of outer side 48, inner side 49, ends 50, and a V shaped bottom 51 which practically divides the hopper into two compartments, in theloweredge of each of which is a narrow discharge opening 52.

Lookin down on the machine, F 1, the upper dis: turns to the right and the lower to the left. The articles will fall ,on' the disk through the first slot 52 and be carried to the space below the upwardly extending bottom '51 where the first brush 46 wil sweep them back and forth. Those that still lie on the face of the disk are thrown second slot 52, is just beyond the first brush 31 and cross bar 17, and the articles delivered are again brushed back and forth by the second swinging brush 46, and the sur plus articles are again thrown back by the second revolvin brush 31. A second hopper, similar to t e first insures all openings being filled, and the last revolving brush prevents articles from lying on top of the disk being carried to the discharging position. When. the apertures 22 in the disk pass over the slot 54 in the bottom 14, the

articles in the apertures fall into the chute or spout 55 mounted below the bottom,

which spouts are preferably made of sheet metal. l I

Each standard 2 is slotted down the inner side and in this slot is movable a block 58 secured to the cross frame 59 of the container, feeding mechanism. The block 58 furnishes a bearing for the hub gear 60,

i which is slidable on and revolves with the shaft 125 A shaft 61 mounted in the frame 59 carries a bevel gear 62 on its outer end, so that it may mesh with the gear 60, and a s ur gear 63 on its inner end, which in turn rives the container feedin mechanism.

. The cross frame 59 is threa ed to receive filled to the rear end of the machine.

the screw 64, which has a hand wheel 65 secured to it. By turnin this hand wheel the cross frame 59, toget er with the table 66, which is connected to the cross frame by a means of brackets 67, may be raised or low ered to accommodate containers of difierent sizes.

The front of the table 66 is at the right in Fig. 1. 'To-the table are secured four guides .69 in the form of angle bars by meansof the bolts 70. The lugs on these bars have slotted holes so the guides may be ad'usted scenes 1, the guide bars having inwardly extending flanges 72, with upper faces flush with the table, to support the containers.

Referring now to Figs. 4, 5, 8 and 12, it being understood that the front ofthe machine is at the right in Figs. 4 and 5, and that Fig. 12 is a front view of the container feeding device. The rear end of a guide bar 74 is mounted on the pivot 75 carried by the table, and the front end is guided by the lugs 76 and held down by the spring 77. A pin 78 extends downward from the vbar 74 and normally rests on the cam 79 on the shaft 80. This shaft is journaled in the bracket 81 carried by the frame 59, and carries a gear 82 at one end, which gear meshes with the gear 63 on the shaft 61. On the opposite end of the shaft. next the cam 79, are the sprocket wheel 83 and crank 84. The sprocket wheel drives the cover conveying device. Slidable on the bar 74 is fourarmed conveyer 85, two of the arms 86 thereon extending toward the front and two arms 87 toward the rear. An arm 86 and an arm 87 of the conveyer move through the space between each pair of guide bars 69. A. pin 88 projects from the side of the conveyer and is connected to the upper end of the lever 89 by means of the link 90. A bracket 91 on the frame 59 supports the lower end of this lever and a link 92 connects it to the crank 84 on the shaft 80. The operations of these parts are as follows, it being understood that the shaft 80 makes one revolution for each half revolution of the disk 21, more particularly, that the conveyer 85 moves toward the rear during the time a blank portion of the, disk 21 passes over the slot 54, and moves toward the front during the time a perforated portion of the disk passes over this slot. Gearing may be changed to provide. a greater or less number of strokes according to the number of perforated sections.

Fig. 4 shows the conveyer and its operating mechanism in the middle of the rearwardstroke, that is, in the middle of its container carrying stroke. The operator having placed a container between each pair of guides 69, they are caught by the lips ori the arms 86 and carried rearwardly until they stop under the spouts 55. All of this time the pin 78 rests on the cam 79. At

the time containers are being carried to filling position, the rear arms 87 have been pushing the immediately preceding and now filled containers away from the spouts toward theback of the machine. Just as the containers arrive under the spouts, the high portion of the cam 79 passes from under the pin 78, permitting the bar 74 and the conveyer 85 to fall, so that during the return stroke the lips on the arms 86 and 87 will be below the level of the flanges 72 and will therefore pass entirely below the conscenes tai-ners. At the forward end of the stroke the cam again operates raisin the conveyer lo operative position to push empty conlainers under the spouts and full containers to the rear.

As the containers are formed no larger than necessary, it may happen that the con-' lenls will heap in the middle and extend upward beyond the top of the sides. In this case the spouts may rake off some of the contents when the filled container is moved away. To prevent this, the spouts are made so the lower parts telescope on the upper,

which lower parts are connected by a bar 9 1;

closed. The covers of telescoping boxes can he put in place by the following described mechanism. A bracket 97 extends down from the rear portion of the table end cerries :1 shaft 98 which has a sprocket Wheel 91') at one end. A chain 100 connects this Wheelwith the wheel 83 on the shaft 80. (in the shaft 98 next the sprocket Wheel is a cam 101, and on the opposite end is a miter gear 102 which meshes with esiinilar gear 103 on the shaft 10% that is journaled in the bracket 10:). This shaft has secured on its opposite end a cam 106 and crank 10?.

llloun'ted at one end on the pin 108 carried by the table, and having its other end restlug on the cam 106 is the bar 109 upon which lhe conveyor 110 is-slidnble. This conveyer has front arms ill and rear arms 112 which pass up through slots 113 in the table; A bracket 114 carries a pin llo'at its lower end upon which pin the lever 1.16 is pivoted.

The link 11'? connects the upper end of the lever to the conveyer 110, While the link 118 (70111113613 the lever and the crank 107 as shown in Fig. 8. To hold the conveyer her 109 against the com 106 a spring 1191s provided, which springis mounted between lugs 120 as shown in Figs. 5 and 8, Which lugs nlso prevent the bar from slipping 0d the cam. The operation of this conveyer consists in bringing two covers to position where they will lie in line with the filled containers, the arms 111 bringing up the covers for the contninersfilled from one disk 21 and the arms 112 a. cover for the conlainer from the other dish. Covered containers are merely pushed ahead of the cov ers. The table is inside slightly lower atthe rear end along the line 145 so the tele scope covers will be the thicknessof the umlerial below the containers, as shown in Figs. 1, 8 and 10. In Fig. 10, four slots 1133. are shown so that when the covers are long, four erms 111 and 112 may be eroboxes. The

gage the link 118. Rods 123 have fingers 1 these e accurately positioned, a conveyer such as shown in F1 9 may be employed for long liody 124 has a pin 125 to en- 126 secured to them by set-screws 127 so that fin ers may be inclined forward or buckwarc? so the articles before them may be accurately positioned.

To push the container into. its cover. an inde endent mechanism is provided. A bar 130 15 pivoted on'the table at 131, (Figs. 1 and 4) and on the bar is slidahle a conveyor, consisting of a. block 132 having arms 133. At the outer end of each arm is mounted a vertical stem having a shoe 134 at itslovver end, which shoe has a downturned flange 135 to engage the rear end .of the container. The bar 130 has a. pin 136 extending downward into engagement with the cam 101.

A lever 137 is pivoted to the lower end of a' bracket 138 and connects to the crank 139 by means of the link 140. The upper end of the lever has a slot 112 in which is movable the pin 111 on the block 132. The lever 137 moves through the slot 114 in the table.

When the container and cover have reached the end of the movements received from the conveyers 85 and 110 respectively, these conve ers drop and return. The shoes 13% have urine this time moved toward the front end oftheir stroke and they then lower down onto the containers. and move with them to the rear, pushing them into the telesco e covers. At the end of this stroke the or 130 rises and the shoes again move toward the front.

Many changes may be made in the details of this construction by those skilled int-he art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Havin now explained my construction, What 1 claim as m invention and desire to secure by Letters etent is 1. In. a counting machine, the combination of a frame, 9. vertical shaft 'revoluble therein, a slotted Flate mounted on the top of the frame, n cy ndrica-l rim on the plate, a perforated disk mounted on the shaft above the plate, s rin and cross-bars carried by the rim to divi e the space above the disk into compartments, 2. brush pivoted on sold shaft, and means driven by said shaft tooscillste said brush in one of the compartments.

2. In a counting machine, the combination ofeframe comprising a plate having a slot, a vertical shaft'mounted in said frame, a. perforated disk mounted on'seid shaft, an oscillating brush movable above the disk to insure the perforations being filled, and means to revolve the sheftend disk to carry the perforations shove the slot in the plate.

3. 1n n counting machine, the combinetion of a case having a slot, a perforated I brushes mounted in brush mounted to swing between each pair.

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disk revoluble within the case, a brush to oscillate over the disk to cause the perforations to be filled, and means to revolve the disk and actuate the brush. i

4:. In a counting machine, the combination of a case having a slot, a perforated disk revoluble within the case, revoluble pairs over the disk, a

of revoluble brushes, and means to actuate the brushes and disk.

5. In a counting machine, the combination of a case having a slot, a perforated disk revoluble within the case, a brush mounted to swingabove the disk to cause the erforations to be filled, means to swing the brush and turn the disk so the perforations will pass over the slot, a spout attached to the case below the slot, and conveying means to position containers below vsaid spout.

6; In a counting machine, the combination ofa frame, a vertical shaft revoluble therein, a case at the upper end of the frame, a erforated disk mounted on the shaft in said case, a reciprocating arm mounted on the end of the shaft, actuating gearing connecting the shaft and arm, a brush carried b said arm and adapted to swing over the disk to cause the perforations to be filled, said case having a slot through which said perforations may empty, a spout below the slot, and means to position containers below the s out.

7. m a counting machine, the combination of a frame, a shaft re'voluble therein,

a circular. late-secured to the top of the frame, a cy indrical rim on the late, a perforated disk secured to the sha t above the plate, cross-bars carried by the rim and exeeavea tendin inwardly, a ring mounted on the ends 0 the cross bars concentric with the rim, and oscillating brushes mounted on said shaft above the perforated diskbetween said cross-bars.

8. Ina counting machine, the combination of a frame, a shaft revoluble therein, a circular plate secured to the top of the frame, a cylindrical rim on the late, a perforated disk secured to the sha t above the plate, a ring-concentric with the rim, crossarsconnecting the rim and ring and supporting the ring above the circular plate,

earings mounted on the rim and ring, revolving brushes extending between said bearings and means connected to the shaft to drive the brushes.

9. In a counting machine, the combination of a frame, a shaft revoluble therein, a circular late secured to the top of the frame, a cy indrical rim on the late, a perforated disk secured to the sha t above the late, a ring concentric with the rim, crosshars connecting the rim and ring and supporting the ring above the circular plate, revolving brushes extending between and having their bearings mounted on the rim and ring, bevel gears mounted on the brushes and the shaft to drive the brushes, and oscillating brushes mounted on the shaft to swing above the perforated disk between said cross bars.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALVA. M. HULL.

Witnesses:

J osnrn T. SCHIAPPAOASSE, EDWARD N. PAGELSEN. 

